Overview

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The National Church Institutions (NCIs) are national administrative bodies that work together to support the mission and ministry of the Church of England. Their activities are hugely varied, ranging from management of a multi-billion-pound investment fund, to a grant-giving charity, a housing service for retired clergy and the administration of four multi-employer pension schemes.

The Church of England Pensions Board is one of the seven National Church Institutions (NCIs), that support the mission and ministry of the Church of England.

The Board provides retirement services to those who work or minister for the Church, providing pensions for 42,000 members, and providing support with retirement housing to 1 in 6 retiring clergy. We also directly manage c£3.2bn of pension investments, ensuring these are invested responsibly in line with the Church of England’s ethical policies.

The Board is currently exploring the possibility of introducing a collective money purchase pension scheme, in tandem with simplifying its existing pension arrangements.

Post Introduction

To manage a transformational change initiative within the Pensions Department of the Pensions Board.  This initiative involves,

• the establishment of a new type of pension scheme for the non-Clergy employees of the organisations associated with the Church of England,
• the establishment of new ways of working in the pensions administration team, “self-service” for members and participating employers, and integration of new technology in the administration of the scheme, and, the potential wind up of 5 complex schemes (legal subsections of 2 existing pension schemes) which will realise our aims to offer simpler, fairer and better pensions to our members.

The Programme Manager will be responsible for the overall integrity and coherence of the change activity, noting that the change is being delivered within a regulated, operational environment. They will be accountable for successful delivery to the Pensions Manager.

The Programme Manager will be responsible for the successful delivery of a programme of work to implement a new Church Pension scheme. This includes the Initiation, Definition, Planning, Delivery and Review/Closure of a set of projects in line with our strategic goals and to secure the delivery of expected benefits. This role and the programme will sit alongside the Pensions Department’s usual operations and activities.  Successful delivery will include significant collaborative working across the Pensions team, with expert advisors, support services and across the NCIs.

Closing Date: 3 December 2023 (midnight).

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minority Ethnic Backgrounds and other under-represented groups.

Role Responsibility

The main responsibilities for this role are:

• Leading the planning and design of the programme, ensuring we have the right work streams, projects, and structures to enable successful delivery. This will include the:
  • Facilitating the definition of project scope, goals and deliverables
  • Development of robust and deliverable project plans
  • Defining the programme's governance arrangements
• Driving delivery across the project lifecycle, from idea generation to benefits realisation.
• Proactively monitoring progress across the programme and all sub-projects, resolving issues and initiating appropriate corrective action to ensure successful delivery of the transformation. This will include:
  • Tracking of project deliverables and benefits, PIR and ROI using appropriate tools
  • Identification and management of risk
  • Understanding the impact of issues as they arise, and quickly working through options
  • Monitoring and reporting at all levels in the organisation
• Management of project/programme resources including people, suppliers and budget. This will include:
  • Provision of clear direction to project teams
  • Mentoring of project team members
• Ensure effective quality assurance and work to hold the overall integrity of the programme i.e. understanding interdependencies between the different facets of the change and business as usual.
• Strategic and operational stakeholder engagement, relationship building and communication.
• Compliance with the NCIs Project Management Framework and best practice
• Overseeing the development of the change management plan for the programme in concert with the Change Manager.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate should have:

Essential

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Good analytical skills and attention to detail
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills including the ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to build relationships, trust and credibility with a wide range of diverse stakeholders
• Dedication to customer service
• Ability to be rational, objective and unbiased when making decisions and taking action
• A track record of solving problems, or pre-emptively identifying and resolving potential issues

Knowledge/Experience:

• Significant experience in a programme or senior project manager role, including:
• Experience managing end-to-end projects (full project life cycle) that include substantive business change and transformation elements (i.e. not only technical activities)
• Experience managing multiple projects or substantive workstreams in parallel.
• Relevant work experience that demonstrates analytical skills and an understanding of managing people, operations, data, information systems, finance, policy and strategy
• Proven track record of proactively delivering successful change projects and/or programmes
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of what it takes to deliver change well (supported by relevant training)
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft products and system tools for tracking project delivery
• Good knowledge of Excel (e.g. pivot tables, diagrams, formulas)
• Good knowledge of project/programme finance and budgeting
• Experience working in and leading multi-disciplinary teams in a complex environment
• Experience in building robust, partnership relationships with suppliers/third parties

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of pensions
• Understanding of the structures of the Church of England and sympathy with its work and aims

About Us

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.  

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

NCI values

• We strive for excellence 
• We collaborate 
• We act with integrity 
• We show compassion 
• We respect others 

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward.  The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values.  Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you. 

If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.  

• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.